Today, we’re seeing a growing segment of Americans – from Baby Boomers to Millennials – realizing they are no longer fulfilled in their corporate jobs. The current stagnant job market is making career success hard to attain for many professionals in corporate America. Many are forced to work 40+ hours each week for lower pay and with fewer resources. These individuals are commonly faced with the threat of company downsizings and unexpected layoffs and yet agree to take upon an extra workload without extra pay or recognition. This work schedule has left millions of people in corporate America simply exhausted.

More and more of these unsatisfied individuals are choosing to proactively leave their corporate sector jobs to take the leap from Employment to Empowerment and invest in a business opportunity as an alternative career path. Today, The Entrepreneur’s Source reviews some of the factors that are causing many individuals to leave corporate America for franchise business ownership.

An Enhanced Lifestyle. You may think that the number one reason why individuals choose to leave corporate America for entrepreneurship is the money. Think again. Susan Mell, franchise owner and alternative career coach at The Entrepreneur’s Source, has found that the biggest reason why these people choose to move from Employment to Empowerment is to gain access to an improved lifestyle. Imagine actually being able to attend most of your child’s soccer games or having the ability to take a week off for a family vacation. The possibility of being your own boss and having the ability to create a more balanced life is often more inspiring to entrepreneurs than the actual income.

Feeling Unappreciated. Many individuals working in corporate America find themselves with an ever-growing workload. These individuals are happy to take more projects on, but aren’t too happy that they’re rarely recognized, thanked or even acknowledged for the work that they do. Shouldn’t we all be respected for our time and work? Mell finds that clients talk about “the companies they’ve worked for and felt they really did a great job for and felt loyalty to, but they didn’t feel that loyalty back.” People should be appreciated for the good work that they do and should feel a mutual sense of loyalty for their employer. By taking the road to entrepreneurship, business owners will no longer feel under appreciated.

The Corporate Financial Peak. Once an employee climbs the ranks within a company, but then is let go during a downsize or for another reason, they find themselves at a peculiar situation. As they climbed titles, their salaries climbed accordingly, and once they leave the company, most other employers aren’t willing to match or exceed their previous compensation. This is known as the corporate peak. Once you’ve reached it in corporate America, the only way to earn more money and live as you previously did is to become entrepreneurial. Starting a business can help create a sense of unlimited income potential that you have full control over.

SABW is an online, virtual business expo that can help you explore the career path of entrepreneurship – all from the comfort of your own home (and maybe even in your pajamas!) This virtual franchise fair offers current and prospective franchisees the chance to discover franchise opportunities and converse with alternative career coaches at The Entrepreneur’s Source about a potential career of business ownership.

“We’re bridging the power of information with the ease of gathering it by using innovative, virtual technology,” founder of The Entrepreneur’s Source Terry Powell said. “Attendees have access to three days of industry experts’ informative sessions hosted in the virtual auditorium, without leaving their home or office. It’s complete convenience—Entrepreneur’s Source coaches are accessible all weekend long to guests. Plus, attendees gain all the benefits of a franchise expo without the travel expenses and time commitment.”

What Do I Get Out of Start a Business Weekend?

Start a Business Weekend attendees will receive access to 80 virtual online booths and hundreds of free videos as well as the following benefits:

Coaching conferenceswith skilled and accomplished alternative career coaches from The Entrepreneur’s Source who are devoted to The Discovery Process, which supports future entrepreneurs in discovering their Possibilities, Options and Dreams (POD) and their unique franchise fit.

Enlightening seminars from nationally-recognized speakers to motivate attendees. These speakers will provide educational information about the franchise industry and inspiring guidance about how to reach their desired lifestyle.

A virtual briefcasein which SABW attendees can add educational materials to throughout the expo. Attendees will also receive admission to meaningful, complimentary resources such as franchise opportunity information and exclusive business prospects.

The ability to network online with other professionals and attendees to start building your unique network of entrepreneurial-minded contacts.

Just because SABW comes to a close doesn’t mean that your materials are lost. Following the end of the event, all attendees will be given a 60-day pass to reexamine their exclusive expo resources to explore their unique franchise opportunities in greater detail.

Two company executives from Franchise Source Brands International™ (FSBI), Alexandria Watson and Aimee LaPak, received Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) designation, earning special recognition at the International Franchising Association’s (IFA) upcoming 2015 conference. The CFE program is intended to enhance franchising professionals’ understanding of the industry’s fundamental and complex aspects.

Aimee LaPak

“The CFE program provides franchise executives with the opportunity to learn how to make decisions to assure their franchisees success and run their companies more efficiently and profitably,” said Terry Powell, CEO and founder of FSBI, a multi-brand business coaching franchisor with several high-performance brands under its helm. “As the sole sponsor of the ICFE for the last ten years, it’s imperative that our executive team takes part in the program to achieve this elite franchise certification. We’re proud of Aimee and Alexandria’s accomplishment and commitment to enhancing our franchise brands.”

Alexandria Watson

Both women completed the CFE program and completed a rigorous course of study in franchise management to attain this distinction. Some of the curriculum included attending institute-sponsored educational seminars as well as various franchise and management-focused workshops. Through attending these seminars and workshops, both Watson and LePak have specialized knowledge, industry recognition, peer-level networking abilities and exclusive professional standing.

Alexandria Watson is a Strategic Partner of ZorSource and a Franchise Liaison at The Entrepreneur’s Source. She joined the company in 2013 and has more than six years of experience in sales and marketing.

Aimee LaPak is a Project Leader of FSBI. She joined the company in 2011 and has more than 4 years of experience in project management and conference execution. Both Watson and LePak will be recognized for their accomplishments during the IFA’s upcoming annual conference in Las Vegas.

The Entrepreneur’s Source on Achieving Work-Life Balance through Franchising

In The New Career Economy, working a standard 9-5 no longer comprises clocking in 40 hours a week. Many times employees put in many extra hours to try and stand out and get ahead in their careers. Working overtime, oftentimes without being paid for the extra hours, causes many of these individuals to fall victim to Battered Career Syndrome and wishing for a more flexible schedule. In fact, a U.S. News & World Report recently found that 67 percent of Americans said that the ability have flexible work hours is important in their careers.

Many individuals who understand the benefits of business ownership choose to make the switch from Employment to Empowerment to gain better control of their careers and sense of work-life balance. Today, The Entrepreneur’s Source reviews why many entrepreneurial-minded individuals are looking to become self-sufficient by no longer relying on the job market, but by entering the path of entrepreneurship instead.

Franchising Ideal for Achieving Work-Life BalanceBusiness ownership, but specifically franchising, allows entrepreneurs to control their career path versus having the market or someone else dictate what their future may hold. Investing in a franchise gives aspiring entrepreneurs a huge advantage –an established system to follow. Investing in a franchise is hard work, but franchisees can achieve a greater sense of work-life balance than in previous career options by following these three steps below that The Entrepreneur’s Source provides.

The Entrepreneur’s Source Reviews3 Ways to Achieve Life Balance through Franchising

Define what work-life balance looks like to you.Work-life balance doesn’t look the same to everyone. To some, it means spending more time with your family. To others, it means not having to work on the weekends. Whatever your sense of work-life balance may look like, it’s important to establish what it means to you. Identifying what an ideal work-life balance looks like can help you recognize when you have achieved it or if you simply are working too hard. You have to decide you want your life to look like, and then figure out how you are going to get there.

Construct boundaries. This is oftentimes the hardest step in achieving work-life balance. We come from a nation of workaholics, and taking a stand to declare that you will balance your personal and professional life takes guts. Establishing that you want to achieve work-life balance is the first step and this entails setting clear boundaries. You have to decide upfront the hours that you are willing to work and put boundaries these guidelines, because if by nature you just like to work, you’ll work 24/7 and not think of time you could have spent with family and friends.

Recognize you don’t have to do it all alone.When running a franchise, many franchisees think that the fate of the business lies in their hands and have a hard time letting go of control. However, running a franchise isn’t a one-man-show. After all, isn’t that why you hire employees? Entrepreneurs need to divide and conquer so they can be strategic in how their business operates. Hiring the right people to help you run your franchise is key, and once you build a team you can trust you can begin to delegate.

Truly achieving work-life balance is a process and may take time, but once it has been achieved entrepreneurs can reap the benefits of having more time to do what they love and spend with their loved ones. If you’re interested in learning more about how you can achieve work-life balance through investing in a franchise, contact an alternative career coach at The Entrepreneur’s Source today http://www.entrepreneurssource.com/contact.html.

In today’s New Career Economy, there isn’t a traditional career path, and this career uncertainty is triggering many people to consider business ownership as an alternative to a standard 9-5, corporate job. However, many of these aspiring entrepreneurs don’t know where or how to start. When beginning your entrepreneurial journey, Identifying your Possibilities, Options and Dreams (POD) that stand before you is one of the first steps that you should take when looking to join the millions of Americans who are striving to become self-sufficient in their work. Today, The Entrepreneur’s Source will explain what your unique Possibilities, Options and Dreams may be and how an alternative career coach can help assist you on your entrepreneurial journey.

What is POD?Before we talk about how you can identify your Possibilities, Options and Dreams, let’s first take a minute to understand the difference between these three terms.

Possibilities: There are hundreds, probably thousands of possibilities when it comes to businesses to invest in, but many hopeful entrepreneurs put on their blinders and solely search for familiar possibilities, which can be extremely harmful. The key to determining one’s possibilities is discovering avenues beyond your comfort zone and even your area of expertise. In fact, The Entrepreneur’s Source alternative career coaches find that 95 percent of the time their clients capitalize on opportunities they previously hadn’t considered or may have formerly warded off.

Options: In today’s New Career Economy, working a standard 9-5 is no longer a viable route to achieve self-sufficiency. In order to truly achieve career control, business ownership is one of the best routes. Once an individual has the ability to recognize this, prospective entrepreneurs can derive new options that better support with their Income, Lifestyle, Wealth and Equity (I.L.W.E.) Goals that they dream of achieving.

Dreams: Most of us have dreamed about what our future would look like from a young age, but oftentimes we put these dreams on hold due because we fear they aren’t realistic or due to extenuating circumstances. But if you think about it, if you don’t dream big, will you ever truly be satisfied in your career? You can’t move from Employment to Empowerment without rediscovering your dreams and creating a plan to achieve them.

How to Achieve Your PODNow that we’ve identified your Possibilities, Options and Dreams, it’s time to start putting systems in place and asking yourself questions to identify what possibilities and options are the best to capitalize on, and how to get started.

Possibilities: Daydream back to your childhood days where the possibilities for your future seemed as if they were limitless. You believed that you could do or be anything and had the ability to focus on your ultimate goal without fearing the hurdles that stood in your way. Entrepreneurs should use this same mindset when questioning one’s possibilities.

Options: Have you fully considered all of your unique opportunities? First, you should investigate the options that exist in your current career. Is there room to mature professionally, or does your career path seem to be stagnant or sinking? If you find that you aren’t satisfied with the options that are provided in your current job, then you’ve likely realized next move should be transitioning fromEmployment to Empowerment. Identify what you didn’t like about the options that You 1.0 had and brainstorm what options align with what you would like to be in You 2.0.

Dreams: What future are you aspiring to? No dream is too big when fantasizing of what you’d like your future to hold. Would you like to have the flexibility to attend all of your son’s basketball games? Do you want to provide yourself the opportunity to retire early? Are you looking to have the means to travel the world? Well, these dreams may not be too big to achieve with business ownership as a vehicle.

The Unique Coaching Difference with The Entrepreneur’s SourceTaking the time to identify your unique Possibilities, Options and Dreams is the first of many steps to becoming an entrepreneur. However, doing so isn’t always easy on your own, and that’s where an alternative career coach can come in handy.

“The coaching experience that The Entrepreneur’s Source takes clients through is a journey of discovery that allows potential franchisees to learn about themselves and about the franchise opportunities they are a considering.” The Entrepreneur’s Source Terry Powell said. This proven Discovery Process at The Entrepreneur’s Source franchise is devoted to helping aspiring entrepreneurs pinpoint their Possibilities, Options and Dreams and identify how they can be achieved.

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Testimonials

Creating a self-employment opportunities is not easy, and it is quite scary, especially for some of us who have enjoyed cushioned jobs, good pay and great benefits. After I lost my job during company layoffs, I had attended business startup and franchise presentations led by a coach from The Entrepreneur Source. He provided a wealth of information and resources, but more important, real data and examples from his own experience as a franchise owner. (more…)

Goran Markinovic

“After twenty+ years working in corporate Human Resource roles across multiple geographies I woke one morning feeling that I was no longer revved up to continue in the same rat race that I had chased for the last twenty something years. I had to find something more rewarding, more challenging, more engaging and more provocative than the day to day grind. I wanted to own my business but I didn’t know where to start. (more…)

Jonathan Jenswold

I first met my coach when I was in transition after a long corporate career and considering the start of my own business. Throughout the process of considering a franchise he was always encouraging, thoughtful, thorough and patient. He does keep the process moving forward, has a good sense of urgency, and even keeps things light with a great sense of humor.

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For over 30 years The Entrepreneur’s Source has provided thousands of people with the answers and the opportunities they needed to improve their lives. Our discovery and education-based method of franchise and business coaching allows our clients to discover....Read More